Notable & Quotable

There is an increasingly strong case that Iraq needs new and boosted security assistance.

From policy analyst
Michael Knights's
"Iraq War III Has Now Begun" for Foreign Policy online, June 11:

The
Obama
administration is determined to honor its campaign pledge to end the [war in Iraq]. To that end, the White House withdrew U.S. combat troops in 2011. However there is an increasingly strong case that Iraq needs new and boosted security assistance, including air strikes and a massively boosted security cooperation initiative to rebuild the shattered army and mentor it in combat. The Middle East could see the collapse of state stability in a cross-sectarian, multi-ethnic country of 35 million people that borders many of the region's most important states and is the world's fastest-growing oil exporter. Any other country with the same importance and the same grievous challenges would get more U.S. support, but the withdrawal pledge has put Iraq in a special category all on its own. Washington doesn't have the luxury of treating Iraq as a special case anymore. ISIS has moved on since the days of the U.S. occupation and they have a plan. Washington should too.